Every Extend Extra: UKReview

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Does this explosive title need a controlled detonation?

By Rob Burman

Every Extend Extra is a game that almost defies description. It cannot be comfortably pigeon-holed into any particular genre of game which, in some cases, can sometimes count against a game. Every Extend Extra, however, uses its jumbled heritage to its advantage, the resulting mix of play styles helping to elevate the game into something unique. It's a blend of some of the best bits from the puzzle and shoot-'em-up genre, all rolled into one, and for that reason it's quite unlike anything else on PSP.

From the screenshots there's no denying Every Extend Extra looks like it's a standard shooter. After all, there are bullets and enemies to avoid and you control what appears to be a spaceship, zipping around the screen zapping bad guys. Only they're not really bad guys and, more importantly, you'd be wrong to snatch this up thinking you're about to get a traditional shoot-'em-up experience. You see, while there are several reasons why EEE isn't just another Geometry Wars clone, the biggest one is that you don't actually shoot anything in the game. Even though you're tasked with weaving between waves of bullets and dodging approaching enemies, you never get to return fire towards your brightly-coloured aggressors. Not once.

Instead you propel yourself around the depths of space like a sci-fi kamikaze pilot, detonating your spaceship in the hope of taking down as many nearby enemies as you can when you go down in a blaze of glory. Naturally it's not that simple though, and you only have a limited number of ships at your disposal, and the only way to earn more ships is by taking down a big, fat bunch of bad guys.

So, if you go around blowing yourself up at the first sign of trouble you'll quickly see the game over screen. Consequently you've got to time your detonations to perfection, so you're completely surrounded by enemy craft when you hit self destruct. Each foe sets off its own explosion when hit, which will then cause a chain reaction of detonations that takes down more ships. Time it right and it's possible to notch up combos of more than 50 enemies, and beating your maximum combo with a well-timed ka-boom is both thrilling and satisfying in equal measure.

So far, so much in common with a traditional shoot-'em-up. You must avoid bullets and enemies with skilful, precise control and have the guts to squeeze through the tightest of gaps, just to make sure you're in the best place when everything goes bang. In fact you almost have to rely on twitch reactions when the screen gets cluttered with enemies, much like the granddaddy of all space shooters, Asteroids.

Ironically, the explosion mechanic is both one of the game's strong points and weak points. It's fun because it's such a novel approach and feels great when you rack up the large combos. On the other hand, it almost holds back the gameplay because there are times when you feel out of control - not in the traditional sense, but because you often find yourself staring at the screen as explosions sweep the across playing field without really understanding where the combos are coming from.